LANSING -- With Michigan and other states approaching the end of their waivers from federal No Child Left Behind requirements, a coalition of several education reform groups is asking U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to require states to prove their efforts are working.

A copy of the letter posted by Education Week lists StudentsFirst and Democrats for Education Reform, two groups active in Michigan, among the organizations co-signing the letter sent to Duncan.

Federal education officials have granted a majority of states waivers from the more than decade-old law, allowing state education departments additional freedom in exchange for crafting alternatives to the law's provisions that still gauge student, teacher and school performance.

The letter asks Duncan to require states to provide proof, including graduation rates and test scores, to justify reauthorizing the policies they adopted under the waivers.

"If states cannot present evidence that their waiver plans work as intended and preserve the best interests of the students, they should be compelled to change those policies," the letter states.

In particular, the letter calls on federal officials to reinstate a uniform method for calculating graduation rates, saying some states have included GED graduates and are changing how many years they include in calculations to reduce dropout rates.

The letter also calls for federal officials to require states to revise their "focus" and "priority" school designations every year, saying some states have not set a timeline for revising the lists.

School accountability designations have been an issue in Michigan since the Michigan Department of Education released data for the 2012-2013 school year earlier this summer, with critics of the system saying it is confusing for parents.

The Michigan House of Representatives is considering a bill that would replace the state's color-coded accountability system with a letter grade system, and state education officials are evaluating changes to how the state identifies low-performing schools.

The letter also asks Duncan to require states to seek public input on their waiver renewal requests.

"We request that USDOE set clear guidelines for how a state will consult with its citizens as part of any waiver renewal application. Further, it should be prepared to reject any application from a state that does not, in fact, fully and appropriately seek input from community leaders in the development of the application," the letter states.